News

We are delighted to announce that we hope to reopen our charity shop doors on Monday 12th April 2021.

Carol’s life changed dramatically in 2006 when she was misdiagnosed with breast cancer and underwent unnecessary surgery as a result. Not long after the surgery Carol did, in fact, develop breast cancer. Now, nearly 15 years later, St John’s Hospice plays a vital role in her support system.

Coping with a loss is a universal experience we will all go through at some point in our lives. And yet, discussing grief it is something we often shy away from. Katherine Obeng, our Hospice’s Senior Social Worker, explains what grief is and why it is so important to talk openly about it.

At a time of year when people are thinking of family it’s important to give thanks for the lives of those we have lost over the years. Unfortunately, due to the current restrictions, we have to do things a little differently this year. Learn more about our first ever virtual 'Light Up a Life' service.

Becoming a carer can put incredible stress on a person, so we spoke to Francis Ngale of Carers Network to better understand what defines someone as a carer and what kind of support and rights they are entitled to.

Now that our Inpatient Unit refurbishment is complete, we caught up with Trish McKee, our Senior Staff Nurse, who has been part of the Hospice for 10 years to hear about the difference it has already made.

When you examine what it takes to deliver this level of care every day, it’s crucial to understand just how much time, effort and emotion our staff invest into their jobs – so we decided to take a closer look at the working life of one of our spiritual leaders, Father Hugh.

Gina Pavlo has been a Specialist Occupational Therapist at our Hospice for nine years, so has invaluable insight into what it takes to be a part of our team. We spoke to her about the work that goes into emotionally supporting and caring for our patients through the hardest of times.

We caught up with Soulla Economou – one of our amazing Healthcare Assistants on our Inpatient Unit – to discover what a day in her life looks like. To illustrate just how physically demanding the role is for Soulla and her colleagues, we also tracked the number of steps she took over the course of a day’s work.